A Neverending Story

"I don’t even think I have the energy to be bothered by it right now." He chuckled softly, "Definitely something to worry about later." Wesley waited for a response from Sera about the studio. The realization that his wife hadn’t been his first thought was still lingering on his mind. It was clear that he had moved on from an outside perspective, or else he wouldn’t have been with Sera, but mentally he still struggled with balancing his love for the both of them. The more involved he became with Sera the less he thought about his previous life. It felt natural, though, as if being with Sera was the right person to move on with. He gave a quick smile as Sera mentioned knowing of a studio. "Perfect."

She let out a sigh in contentment as he agreed with her and kissed her back, his lips pressing deeply against hers. She no longer cared about the rest of the unpacking. All the rest of the things could be put away tomorrow since it was the weekend and they both had the day off.  She leaned into him as his arms wrapped around her, fingers sprawled softly at the nape of his neck, moving up into his dark curls. She gave a small nod of her head as he agreed, grinning against his lips as she kissed him and as he pulled them closer to their bed. "Good." She said softly, moving one of her arms from around him to grab the box and drop it down to the floor, being careful not to let any of its contents fall out while still keeping close to Wesley.

"I’ll check after we’ve settled in a bit more. I’ve already made a mess of things by trying to go through that box." He had been so exhausted by the time he had gotten around to pulling it open and now they were going through it. "Besides, I think I’ve already put my camera away somewhere." Likely with all of his canvases. His camera was full of pictures of Sera now, they had long since replaced scenery, and he found himself not having to look far to find something worth bringing a paintbrush out for. He left thoughts about his camera behind as Sera’s excitement grew over taking professional photos. "There was a lovely company back home. I’m betting that you know of one that is a bit more local." He said with a quick wink. The idea had come so naturally to him and he found it odd that his wife had become an afterthought.

As he mentioned checking for the camera and photos later, Sera gave a nod. "Yeah, don't worry about it now. We'll get to that eventually. We don't have to rush everything now." They had already gotten a lot done, which surprised Sera, but she was definitely exhausted because of the fact. She knew they could finish up the smaller stuff later and that they weren't going to have difficult with their living conditions if they didn't have photos in frames out everywhere. At his wink, Sera gave a small chuckle, her lips settling into a warm smile soon after, thinking if there was someone she could actually think to go to. She thought about the place Evie had gone to for Charlotte's baby pictures and remember her sister saying good things about the studio. She thought about checking it out later, hoping maybe it would be good for them. The pictures of Charlie after all had turned out nice. "I think I might know a place but I'll have to look." She said.

Looking at the rest of the contents in the box, Sera figured there wasn't much use of them and figured they could all either go into the garage or be trashed, whatever Wesley wanted to do with it. She thought it was all junk now but she wouldn't fight him on any of it if he wanted to keep it. Well, maybe she would for the pencil shavings and paper clips. As he began to talk about when she had left, Sera lifted her gaze to watch him as he spoke. She felt her chest swell as he mentioned trying to paint and draw her. She could still remember how hard it had been to say goodbye to him all that time ago but she was so happy that they had found each other again and she knew that she would never have to make that hard decision to leave him ever again. She rose from the bed and reached for him, grasping onto his arm lightly and pulling him to her, as she wrapped her arm around his shoulder. "Well now you don't have to do either because I'm not going anywhere anymore." She said softly as she brought her lips to his. 

I only asked the question. You’re the one that said yes. 

Well, it was the easiest yes I've ever made.

Taking on a more serious tone again, he nodded in agreement as she suggested adding pictures of their own, “I’m not sure if I’ve uploaded them yet, or if they’re still on my camera, but I think I’ve got a few pictures of us somewhere.” More than a few, if he really gave it more thought, but he wasn’t concerned with the number. He just enjoyed the memories associated with the pictures, “But we could take more, if you’d like. Maybe professional ones?” There was a slight hitch in his voice as the words left his lips, after having remembered that he had taken studio portraits with his wife, and he was hesitant to continue out of worry that Sera may have noticed. 

He had lost focus of her, though their hands were still connected, once she returned her attention to the box he had handed over. He was scanning the room, imagining what it might look like once they were completely done with unpacking. A sheepish expression grew as he began to explain what he had in mind. He was a little embarrassed to let Sera in on his plans because he rarely talked about his art before he painted it. Most of the time it set in his mind until he was in front of a canvass and there were times when he didn’t have a plan at all but he still managed to create something that gave him feeling, or better yet, represented how he was feeling at that given moment. 

Sera was lost in her thoughts for a moment, thinking about the other woman. She got along so well with Wesley’s mother, having met her a few times while she was staying in England. The woman was warm and sweet, and reminded the redhead of her own parent which was nice. She was happy to simply catch up with the other woman and possibly see if there were any other things of Wesley’s that she could send over. Having lost herself in her musings for a moment, it had taken Sera a second to realize that Wesley was speaking again. It wasn’t until she noticed his lips were moving did his words finally begin to register. She pulled herself back to the present, hearing him mention having photos of them somewhere. She spoke up then, adding, “I think I have some too in one of my albums somewhere. I’ll take a look but go ahead and do that too if you want.”

Then a second later he was suggesting getting professional photos taken and Sera paused, thinking on the idea.  She did think it would be nice to go somewhere to get photos of them together taken. The quality would definitely be much better than anyone of the ones either of them had laying around. She envisioned a portrait of the two of them together looking happy with some lovely backdrop and Sera felt warmth fill her chest at the idea. It was so domestic and normal and loving feeling, everything she wanted with Wesley. She smiled wider, her whole face brightening at the idea. “Oh! That would be lovely,” She chirped in excitement. “We can definitely do that, if you really want to.” She was so excited at whole idea of the suggestion that she had not even noticed the subtle change in Wesley’s tone.

Still holding onto his hand, Sera gave it another small squeeze before he began to pull away from her. She let him go easily, watching him curiously as he made his way over to the wall, reaching out to touch it. She could tell he was envisioning the image in his mind and she found herself wishing she could see what he saw. As he began to speak, Sera looked past him towards the wall, listening to what he said and starting to form a visual of his words. Her eyes moved from the wall, at the image she was building there, and then back to Wesley, her smile settling into a small content one. She could already tell that she would love whatever it was he came up with, but then again she always did. She loved the idea though of waking up every morning and looking up at the image that he had created for both of them. An image for them, in their room, in their house. The very idea of it made Sera’s heart ache with utter happiness.

Wesley watched as Sera continued to look through his stuff. When she pulled out his family portrait he covered his mouth, an embarrassed smile hiding behind the palm of his hand, and brought himself closer to her. He dropped his hand to his side before speaking, “Are you sure?” Wesley didn’t have anything against the picture but the frame had made him consider throwing it away. “It’s pretty old.” He let out a laugh, “My brother is older now than I was when we took this. He couldn’t have been more than ten when this was taken.” It had been awhile since he last took a good look of the picture. Wesley missed his family but he thought that Sera’s suggestion to put it in the living room would help. “No, I like that. If you have an extra frame then sure.” He smiled and nodded, “And I think it would go well in the living room. I don’t have a lot of pictures.” Come to think of it, he wasn’t even sure how this one got into his possession. His only assumption was that Olivia had left it behind during one of her visits.

Placing the frame down on the bed, Sera looked back up at Wesley and nodded her head along in agreement. “Yeah, I’ll make sure to grab one of the nicer ones.” She smiled, still for a moment as she took in his words before reaching out and tentatively taking hold of his hand, the one he had just been covering his smile with. “I can call your mother up if you’d like? I’m sure she has some to spare, if it’ll make you feel better.” She raised her brows softly as she spoke the suggestion. After a second she added. “And we can always add our own.” She gave a small shrug of one shoulder, smiling sweetly at him before turning her attention back to the box.

Wesley had been under the impression that it would take weeks to get everything unpacked, but, to his surprise, it had only taken about a day. There were still a few things that needed to be put away and not all of the furniture had been brought over yet but for the most part, he could see the house turning into a home already. Sera had made unpacking easy by labeling each box accordingly. Wesley was happy to pick up from there by carrying the heavy boxes into the new house. His belongings were outnumbered by Sera’s but he didn’t mind. He left for the states with very little to his name, having left it all behind on purpose, and wanted to start a new life once he got into town. Wesley had acquired new things here and there since moving to Renata but the bulk of his belongings could fit into just a few boxes with ease.  

The sun was starting to go down and the room he had been sitting in was no longer lit up like it had been just a few minutes before. Wesley stood up and flicked a light on. It didn’t give him much to work with, as it was only an overhead lamp, but it was enough to finish going through the last box. He sat back down and pulled the box closer to him. In his own writing, and in an effort to match Sera’s organization, the word ‘miscellaneous’ was scrawled across the top. Wesley pried the box open and stared into it. He had packed it late one night and was now curious as to why he even bothered to keep any of the stuff inside. A worn picture frame with a faded photo of his parents, an open package of pens, a sketchpad full of drawings that he had either already brought to life on a canvas or changed his mind about, a cigar case, but he didn’t even smoke cigars? He assumed it had come along with other knickknacks that had been left behind by his sister the last time she visited. 

While not all their furniture had been brought over from their old places yet, for the most part all the big and essential pieces had been brought in and placed into their designated areas throughout the day. Sera’s own father had even been by to help with the heavier lifting until she and Wesley were able to handle the rest on their own. From there, the rest of the day was spent unpacking boxes and putting things where they would now belong. Finding it easiest to unpack one room at a time, Sera had made her way throughout the house, the number of boxes dwindling down as she furnished each and every room with the contents within. As she hours grew later and their unpacked items growing fewer and fewer, the redhead eventually found her way into the spare room that she had designated as a spare bedroom for when they would have guests over.

With Loula laying in the center of the room watching her, exhausted after having excitedly explored the new back yard for hours, Sera was placing the last few spare sheets within drawer when she heard Wesley’s voice calling out to her from the other room. “I’m in here.” She called back as she closed the drawer and turned to make her way towards the doorway, curious as to what it was that he needed. As he entered the room, his face lighting up, Sera could not help but smile warmly at him, noticing the box in his hand. She stepped closer to him and felt her smile only grow wider as he kissed her on the cheek. The two of them had been rather busy throughout the day getting everything settled in that they had hardly had the chance to really relax and talk much, other than to figure out what to put where. As he mentioned needing help, Sera glanced down at the box in his hands again, listening as he continued on to say he wasn’t sure where any of it should go.

Reaching in and moving a few of the items around to peek inside at it all, Sera noticed that it was all miscellaneous items that could probably be placed anywhere, or even thrown out if they weren’t really necessary. She couldn’t help but chuckle lightly as she looked over a few of the things, wondering why Wesley had even bothered to pack them but figuring it must have just been a guy thing. “I think we can find a place for them somewhere.” She said before he mentioned feeling tired, a sigh leaving him. She looked back up at him then, surprising a sigh of her own as her smile grew softer. It really had been a long day and Sera was starting to feel the effects of the move herself. “How about we just figure out where this stuff goes and then we call it a night, yeah?” She said, taking the box from him and moving to set it down on the full size bed that occupied the room.